How to photograph a sunset portrait

[maria_hopstetter]

I have done several sunset weddings (www.maria-angela.com) and even though the photos come out great, I just feel

like I am "winging" it and getting lucky every time. Can someone tell me if I am doing this right or if I am literally just

being lucky.

 

This is what I do with my sunset portraits:

I use center weighted metering and meter off of the client. Before I start the shoot, I under expose by 1 stop on my

camera so that the background will not be blown out. I use a slave flash hooked up to my camera for fill light and

usually up it about +1 to +2 stops on ETTL mode. Reason why I am asking about my technique is because

sometimes I am still getting a blown out background....or atleast the majority of the background around the sun.

Should I be knocking my exposure down further? I know that many blogs claim that you need to meter off of the sky

just left or right of the sun...only problem with that...is that when I recompose, the camera is focused on the

background and not the clients. I read so many blogs that claim once you get this technique down you will forever

have consistent sunset shots....well...since I am not geting this effect....I am figuring that I am doing this

wrong...hence why I am asking for advice. :)

Thanks Y'ALL!

[vishi_anand]

Wish you posted some problem shots. It is hard to find the shots from link to your gallery.

 

First get a flash light meter, it will things so much easier. Set your camer for bg exposure and then use flash for subject exposure. I would use camera in manual mode. Flash can be in eTTL or better in manual mode.

[maria_hopstetter]

sorry about that....here is a better gallery....if you go to my site (link above) and click on client gallery....click on Ferguson Wedding and enter password: krol

Scroll down to the portrait section where the sun is setting. You will see some blown out images...poses are not that great because the bride wasn't really cooperating much. Thanks!

[bill_clark___minnetonka_mi]

Password didn't work.

 

Space between two words?

 

Second word start in caps?

 

Sunset photos are fun!

[maria_hopstetter]

password: krol

 

no capitalization, no space just the word krol

 

let me know if it continues to give you problems. thanks!

[bill_clark___minnetonka_mi]

I see, it's the first word only.

 

What did your client think of the photos?

 

I run my camera manually for 95% of my wedding photography.

 

Have you taken an in-depth seminar on posing, lighting, composition?

 

I go to most every rehearsal, usually arriving when the wedding day photos will be taken so as I can check things out

like lighting.

 

Getting the bride to cooperate is your job as a professional photographer. The rapport that is established between the

photographer and subjects has a dramatic impact on the outcome of the photographs. Unless 100% are pj.

 

Thanks for posting.

[maria_hopstetter]

What you see as poses is me getting her to cooperate. If I wasn't doing my job...she would of stood there with a look on her face the whole time. haha. I always shoot in full manual mode, this way I have more control over the situation. All of my brides with the sunsets...LOVE them...but that is not why I am here asking. I want to know if I am doing the procedure correctly. I feel that if you learn the wrong way...then it makes it more complicated as time goes on and becomes a mess down the road, so this is my attempt at nipping it at the bud before I get too set in my current ways....does this make sense? BEcause I feel like I am rambling. haha.

[maria_hopstetter]

oh to add to the above comment:

 

"I go to most every rehearsal, usually arriving when the wedding day photos will be taken so as I can check things out like lighting. "

 

I arrive an hour before the event to map out lighting, entrances, etc. Mostly because almost every wedding I have is out of town and are destination weddings...so they are not doing rehearsals the night before as if it was a church wedding or formal event.

[vishi_anand]

Maria,

 

Wish exif data was present in your shots. What you got to do is first set the camera for back ground exposure. Set camera in manual mode and select aperture/ss so setting sun looks good. You can adjust exposure ot make bg bright or dark. Now once camera is set for the bg, you need to adjust your flash for subject exposure. Start with flash in eTTL mode and 0 flash comp. See how the subject exposure is (the bg would remain the same). Adjust flash up/down with flash exp comp. You can do same with flash in manual mode instead of using eTTL mode.

 

Practice with willing subject in your back yark, park or whenever easier.

[gdw]

If you are shooting in full manual mode (forth post) why do you say that you are focused on the background when you recompose (first post)? Meter on the background and refocus on the subject, if the camera is in manual nothing will change but the focus.

[picturesque]

Yes, you should be knocking the exposure down further. The flaw in your method is underexposing only 1 stop from the ambient meter reading of the subjects. Most of the time the difference between the EV for a fully saturated orange sky and the EV for the light on the subject is way more than 1 stop--it could be more than 4-5 stops, actually, depending upon how bright or dark the ambient is around the subject. This is why you are still getting blown out sky.

 

Vishi is right--start with establishing the background or sky exposure first. If you do everything in manual mode, use your camera meter (spot or partial is best, but if not, center weighted is OK) to meter a part of the sky off to one side or the other of the sun, if it is still above the horizon. Another way to think about it is to meter a part of the sky equivalent to middle gray in value. Use that as a starting point. Take some test shots to see how saturated the sky is and adjust to your liking--underexpose for more saturation, overexpose for less. Then turn on your flash and adjust compensation of the flash (usually plus comp to overcome backlighting) so that the people are well exposed. Realize that certain setting combinations will not be condusive to what is possible re good flash exposure. You have a sync speed limit (high speed sync will usually not be enough for full lengths) and remember that the smaller the f stop, the harder the flash has to work. You may run out of variables to play with if you don't think things through.

[chuck_sackman]

Try this link. It should be helpful.

 

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2007/09/lighting-102-balancing-light-twilight.html